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McNamara tops in fly prelims

Addison Trail/Willowbrook co-op's Kelly McNamara put herself in a good spot in the 100-yard butterfly at Friday's state swimming preliminaries at Evanston High School.

McNamara has the top finals seed in the 100-yard butterfly in 54.68 seconds, nearly one-half second ahead of the next-best competitor.

"I think if she swims her race, it's hers to win," said her coach, Paul Anderson. "I really think (McNamara) can be anywhere from three-tenths to six-tenths faster in finals."

The fly helped offset a major disappointment in the 50 free for McNamara. Anderson said the starting tone behind McNamara's block (and several others lanes in her heat) did not sound, which resulted in a slow start for those lanes. It also resulted in a discouraged McNamara, who did not qualify in the event for Saturday's finals.

"We had a rough time, maybe 20 minutes, after that," Anderson said. "I think it affected her fly a little bit, but bottom line, she's right where she wants to be for Saturday."

Other area teams also had qualifiers. Hinsdale Central qualified its 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay while Margaret McCarthy had the third-highest diving total. Waubonsie Valley qualified its 200 freestyle relay.

Naperville Central diver Sydney Dusel had the second-highest total in Friday's prelims behind Prospect's Dana Liva.

"(Dusel) has done a magnificent job all year and Dave Likar, our diving coach, has done a tremendous job with our diving program," Naperville Central coach Mike Adams said. "It's not just those two either. All the other girls have been diving well for us all year."

Neuqua Valley's Natalie McGovern has two swims left in high school. She swims with her 200 medley relay teammates, who are seeded second heading into finals. McGovern also swims in the 100 backstroke finals, where she is seeded second.

"You've just got to go through it - it's a long day," McGovern said. "You know it's going to be like that and you have to prepare for it."

McGovern finished third in the backstroke as a junior.

"I hope I can improve on that and maybe go a best time," McGovern said. "It's bittersweet how everything's coming to an end, but I'm swimming next year at Iowa, so I have that to look forward to."

Neuqua Valley also qualified Ana Brockmeier in the 100 breaststroke.

Metea Valley has a pair of swims from Amanda Burson in finals. She was fifth in the 50 freestyle and 12th in the 100 butterfly.

"I'm pretty happy with it," Burson said of her 50 freestyle swim. "I wasn't really expecting to get the top finals. But I'm happy to be able to make it back."

With confidence from her first swim, Burson qualified in her second event.

"I didn't do so well in the sectional," Burson said. "So after the first swim, that was a best time for me and that built my confidence a little bit."

The whole point of the first day of any IHSA state swim meet is to qualify for the second day of the competition. Team points and individual medals are only counted in the finals, which take place Saturday in Evanston.

When unofficial team points were tallied at the end of Friday's prelims, Downers Grove North stood fourth, behind Loyola, Rosary and Lake Forest.

"It's always a grueling day, this first day, to get everything under control," Downers Grove North coach Judy Busse said. "We had some misses, but I think we put ourselves in a great position. You never know what's going to happen, and that's the beauty of this kind of a meet. But we put ourselves in a great position."

The Trojans have all three relays qualified, have three individual swims and diver Emily Albrecht also progressed to the finals. Of these, Gabriele Serniude is best placed after swimming the fastest time in the 200-yard IM on Friday.

"Gabi's sitting nice in the 200 IM," Busse said. "We'll see if Emily (Albrecht) can move up in the 50 free and Lindsay (Mathys) is in a tough spot in the 100 free; she can only move up one spot."

Images: Girls State Swimming Prelims

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